Tag: Hurricanes

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Miami vs Virginia Tech Preview and Prediction

We saw some real improvement against Pitt. The offense scored some points. They were able to run the ball. And they were competitive into the 4th quarter. Can they do it again? Can this team hold up for a full 60 minutes? This team has been pretty good at taking games into the 4th quarter but that’s where things fall apart. Is it talent? Is it depth? Is it injuries? I’m not sure we know yet but it’s something that needs to get fixed if they Hokies want to chalk up more wins this season.

SP+ Rankings

Virginia Tech

Overall: 86th
Offense: 118th
Defense: 44th
Special Teams: 30th

Miami

Overall: 54th
Offense: 48th
Defense: 61st
Special Teams: 18th

Miami’s passing offense has been very good against some bad defenses this season. They got tested against Texas A&M and only managed 9 points. Virginia Tech has had a good pass defense and the Hokies’ front seven should be able to get stops. Having Alan Tisdale return should be a nice boost to this defense this week.

Miami has stout defensive line that does not allow a lot of rushing yards. If the Hokies want to move the ball it’ll have to be through the air. The Hokies’ receivers need to be able to win one-on-one battles with Miami’s defensive backs. The Canes’ linebackers are great run stuffers but not as great in coverage. This would be a good game for the Hokies to use their tights ends and crossing routes in the pass game.

The Hokies defense should hold up pretty well against Miami’s offense. It would help to have Dorian Strong back but even if he’s not, they should hold their own. I’m more worried about the Hokies offense against Miami’s defense. Miami has the ability to make Tech one-dimensional. I don’t trust the Hokies’ passing attack in that situation. The Hokies will need some semblance of a run game to help their pass game be effective. This will be a close game and Miami slows down the Hokies offense enough to pull it out in the end.

Prediction: Miami 28, Virginia Tech 21

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Miami Q&A with Dirty Bird from The Cane Gang Radio Show

This week we are joined by Miami radio show host Ryan (“Dirty Bird”) from the Cane Gang Radio Show. You can follow him on Twitter (@dirtyyybird) and listen to his radio show every Friday from 11a-1p ET on SiriusXM channel 145.

Tell us about yourself and your radio show. 

My name is Ryan, but I go by “Dirty Bird” on Twitter (@dirtyyybird) I worked in the equipment room during the late 90s for the Atlanta Falcons and the name has always stuck with me through fantasy football and social media platforms. I am a lifelong fan of the Canes having grown up in South Florida and watching the teams of the late 80s and early 90s, I fell in love with them at an early age and despite how rocky our relationship has been over the last 20+ years, I get more and more into it every year! Recently, I have started to contribute on a Canes focused radio show called The Cane Gang Radio Show that airs every Friday from 11a-1p on SiriusXM channel 145 SLAM! Radio. I do the show with Derek Coe who is one of the most well known recognizable fans around our program and John Michaels who is based in Atlanta and is on The Locker Room on 680 the Fan. We are just a couple of old guys who hop on the air and talk completely unscripted and unfiltered. Our show has had a number of recognizable guests including Vince Wilfork, Santana Moss, Uncle Luke, Brett Romberg, and even former VT WR Isaiah Ford.

Tell us about your team this year. What are your thoughts on Miami so far this season?

Clearly, we had higher hopes for our team so far this season. We fought hard at Texas A&M, just came up short in the end. I think that loss sucked a ton of the life out of us. Then you come back and think you have a layup and the game proves to be anything but that. The loss to MTSU was shocking and the perfect storm of everything that could possibly go wrong going wrong in one single game. Nevertheless, you have to win those games so there is no excuse you can make! We are still licking our wounds from that one and then walked into a matchup with a team in UNC that has always given us fits. We fought hard, and despite the loss, there was some good to unpack there.

I remain optimistic knowing that this is a process and as much as we want to win now, it is going to take time to get it going. We are pointed in the right direction, yet have a long way to go to get where we want to be.

What do you think about the job that Mario Cristobal has done so far?

Mario Cristobal is focused in the right areas building through relentless recruiting and putting funding in the program to build out the support staff to a level needed to win in the current landscape of college football. Some are screaming the sky is falling in our fan base (I am sure VT has those too) but we are 5 games into what we know is a major rebuild of a program that has been hurting for decades. Nobody cares more than he does. I (and most of our fan base) remain “all in” on him!

 How do you feel about the Miami-Virginia Tech annual rivalry coming to an end?

Well, I love the new format for scheduling and think after these 4 years (where we still play twice) they will get us back on the annual matchup! Hopefully we get to meet in the ACCG!

What’s your favorite memory from the rivalry?

I think anytime you look at these rivalries, you have to look at when both teams are ranked high and there is a ton at stake. The games between us should mean something. Unfortunately, for both of us, that has not been the case for a while. But for my favorite memory, I will go to 2017 to the time that we were both really humming and VT came to Hard Rock ranked 13 to play the Canes ranked 9th. We had won the previous 4 in really close fashion, so there was a ton of talk that despite a record of 7-0, we were fraudulent. That night at Hard Rock was electric and VT fans showed up in force too! We won the game in convincing fashion (sorry VT fans!) and it really catapulted us into a feeling we had not felt in forever!

 What’s your outlook on the future of the ACC? 

I think the ACC has two things going for it making it really hard to break it up. #1 the TV contracts and grant of rights making it nearly impossible for anyone to break off 1 or 2 teams. Plus, #2 the ACC is still really the premier basketball conference even though the SEC and Big12 have had better basketball the last few years. I think lots of important TV executives (who are really the ones who run all of this) would not want to implode the ACC. But hey, who really saw USC & UCLA to the B1G! Anything is possible!

What are your expectations for the Virginia Tech game? 

Well, first and foremost I respect VT as an opponent and always will despite either teams record. I do feel as though we are in a back against the wall position and I think (hope) we come out swinging. We are due for a good effort and honestly think we get it here. The thing is, I see the same being true for your program as well. Hard to gauge, but I see us coming out on top!

What’s your prediction for the game?

Miami 34-21

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Miami vs Virginia Tech Preview and Prediction

It was the right decision to let Justin Fuente go. The timing was strange but I’m sure there were reasons for that. Maybe the job needed to be open to have serious conversations with interested coaches. The Fuente era started with a lot of promise but lost momentum and finally reached the point of no return.

SP+ Rankings

Virginia Tech

Overall: 44th
Offense: 67th
Defense: 25th
Special Team: 32nd

Miami

Overall: 32nd
Offense: 22nd
Defense: 47th
Special Team: 50th

Miami is a good passing team. They are 16th in the nation in passing offense. Tyler Van Dyke has been good for the Hurricanes. He’s thrown for over 2,000 yards, 19 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. The Hokies boast the nation’s 15th ranked passing defense. So it should be strength vs strength when Miami is on offense.

Miami’s run defense has been a bit leaky in recent weeks. The Hokies would be smart to keep the ball on the ground with Malachi Thomas and Raheem Blackshear. Tackling has been an issue for Miami this year, so VT would be smart to test them early and often in that area.

There may be some extra juice from the players to play under former VT player JC Price. They still have the opportunity to make a bowl game and the seniors will want to close the season strong. They don’t want to be the team that got their coach fired. So while this season has been up and down, I think we see some fight from these guys in the last two regular season games.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 33, Miami 30

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Miami Preview and Prediction

Yikes. A loss to Liberty. If the loss to Wake wasn’t bad enough, this team goes down to one of the little brother programs in Virginia. To put this loss in perspective, Virginia Tech’s football budget is more than three times more than Liberty’s. Virginia Tech also paid Liberty to come to Blacksburg and hand them a loss. Ouch. It’s a bad look for this program. It’s going to be one of those losses like ODU that’s hard for the fan base to forget.

SP+ Rankings

Statistically, Miami doesn’t look like a Top Ten team. Their record looks like a lot of smoke and mirrors. But they do have an excellent quarterback in D’Eriq King. If Khalil Herbert is out, King will be the best football player on the field on Saturday. Miami’s offense looks a lot like Louisville’s and Liberty’s. Both gave the Hokies’s defense tons of trouble. And if I’m picking quarterbacks, D’Eriq King is the best out of the three the Hokies have faced the last three weeks. Slowing down this Miami offense will be a tall task for this defense. Watch for this stat on Saturday, the Hokies will need to try to keep King under 50 yards rushing …

With just about every game the Hokies play in this year, they are going to have to outscore the opposing offense in a shootout. They can’t count on the defense to get a lot of stops. If Khalil Herbert is back from his pulled hamstring, I like the Hokies chances. If he’s still out or limited, the Hokies will need to get other weapons involved in the offense. Like Raheem Blackshear, Tre Turner or James Mitchell. Hendon Hooker can’t do it all on his own.

After the Liberty game, I expect a bounce back game from the Hokies. The problem is, I’m not sure how bought in the team is this year. They started the season with a lot of fire against NC State and it seems like slowly it has faded as the year has gone. So, I’m not exactly sure what team we’re going to see on Saturday. No one needs a top ten win right now more than Justin Fuente. It might the cure for what ails him with the fan base. If Khalil Herbert is back, I see a very close game that could go either way. If he’s out, Miami wins by two scores. Let’s see what happens on Saturday. Let’s hope we see more fire out of this team after what happened last week.

Prediction: Miami 41, Virginia Tech 31

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Miami Preview and Prediction

This is about as low as I can remember this program as long as I have been following them. Sometimes you’ll have a team that’s struggling but there is always something they do well that they can lean on. There isn’t a whole lot this team is doing well. There have been some individual players who have been bright spots but this team is struggling on both sides of the ball. That’s a tough combo going into conference play.

SP+ Rankings

Miami

Overall: 31st
Offense: 65th
Defense: 21st
Special Teams: 86th

Virginia Tech

Overall: 72nd
Offense: 88th
Defense: 52nd
Special Teams: 70th

The Hokies aren’t the only team struggling on the offensive side of the ball, Miami is in the same situation. Miami starts a young offensive line but, as usual, still have a lot of talent at the skill positions. Expect Jarren Williams and DeeJay Dallas to have big games on the ground. I’m not too worried about their passing game but Jeff Thomas can do some damage getting open downfield. The Hokies need to watch for him when the run opens up the play action pass downfield. There should be some opportunities for big plays against the Hokies’ defense.

The Hurricanes have a talented and experienced defense. This could be one of the best defensive units the Hokies face all season. This team is great at stuffing the run and forcing teams to pass to beat them. The Hokies need to be able to block Miami’s talented trio of senior linebackers. If they can’t, it’ll be a long night for Hendon Hooker and the Hokies offense. Virginia Tech needs to focus on misdirection in the run game to hope to give them a chance to move the ball downfield. Hendon Hooker will need to effectively run the read option. That might slow down Miami’s defense a bit.

If the Hokies hope to stay in this game, the Virginia Tech defense needs to keep Miami’s offense off the board. If Miami is able to put up points in a hurry, this game can get out of hand quickly. Virginia Tech’s best chance to win is to keep this a low scoring game and have Hendon Hooker hit on some plays in the passing game. That will become easier if the Hokies can establish a running game. Completing passes will be challenging considering how well Miami keeps teams one-dimensional. What I am looking for is for effort and want-to from the Hokies. This past week fans and the media have been burying this team. It’d be great to see this team get off the mat and let everyone know this season isn’t over yet. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Prediction: Miami 31, Virginia Tech 7

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Miami Preview and Prediction

The Hokies had a historically bad performance against Pitt. Don’t believe me? Read this. Or don’t. Either way, after a series of dismissals and injuries on defense, the Hokies are fielding a lot of 3rd and 4th options on defense. That’s not ideal on a defense that was young to begin with going into the season. You can see the results of all that youth and attrition.

Virginia Tech

Overall S&P+ Rank: 75th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 49th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 93rd
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 57th

Miami

Overall S&P+ Rank: 30th
Offensive S&P+ Rank: 69th
Defensive S&P+ Rank: 10th
Special Teams S&P+ Rank: 117th

Miami doesn’t have a quarterback that is playing at a high level but they have a couple of running backs that can make the Hokies pay without having to put the ball in the air. Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas are both averaging over 5.5 yards per carry and have the ability to break big plays if the Hokies can’t fill their gaps and wrap up the ball carrier. Miami doesn’t have a particularly strong passing game but it might not matter against the Hokies.

Miami’s defense is very talented. This might be the best defense the Hokies will see all season. If the Hokies hope to win this game, they will need to be able to move the ball against this stingy defense. This year, Virginia Tech has not been able to run the ball consistently and if there is one area of Miami’s defense where they are more susceptible it’s on the ground. Unfortunately for the Hokies, Miami’s pass defense is one of the best in the nation. The Hokies will need to look to RPOs and read option to try to move the ball against this defense. This might be a good game to get either Quincy Patterson or Hendon Hooker involved in. Watch out for Miami’s talented linebackers Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney.

After the Boston College game, I had some optimism that this team was close to putting a complete performance together on offense and defense. That could still happen against Miami or UVA, but after the Pitt performance, they look like a team that is closer to packing it in for the season than putting together a complete performance. This team just looks overmatched. The biggest key for this team right now is to not quit. Not to give up on the season. Keep fighting and try to keep getting better week-to-week and even play-to-play. If you’re looking for some positives, it’s possible that the Hokies get Jerrod Hewitt, Rayshard Ashby and Deshawn McClease back this week. Ultimately, I think the Hokies will once again be overmatched on defense. I do believe the Hokies will play better on defense than they did last week. But I don’t think the offense will be able to put up points on Miami’s defense.

Prediction: Miami 31, Virginia Tech 17

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Miami Preview and Prediction

This is a huge game. If the Hokies lose, they are mathematically eliminated from Coastal contention. If the Hokies hope to repeat as Coastal champions, they will need to win this game on the road against undefeated Miami.

Virginia Tech

Overall S&P+ ranking: 15th
Offensive S&P+ ranking: 70th
Defensive S&P+ ranking: 4th
Special Teams S&P+ ranking: 34th

Miami

Overall S&P+ ranking: 14th
Offensive S&P+ ranking: 20th
Defensive S&P+ ranking: 31st
Special Teams S&P+ ranking: 54th

As you can see, they are two very evenly matched teams. Both teams have put together impressive resumes against relatively soft schedules. No one would argue these aren’t two very good teams. Both teams are trying to build a resume ahead of the ACC Championship for a chance at the College Football Playoff. They could both be considered dark horses in the CFP race.

I’ve watched Miami’s games this year and they just don’t pass they eye test to me. At least not for an undefeated team nine weeks into the season. You always expect them to play better than they do. What has stood out to me is that they play down to their competition. Which means they can play up to their competition in a big game, and they probably will. So don’t expect the same Miami team that struggled against GT and UNC.

The Hokies offense is going to have trouble moving the ball against Miami’s defense. They aren’t as good as Clemson’s but they are probably better than Duke’s and BC’s. They will be a challenge. The Hokies will be able to put some points on the board as Justin Fuente and Brad Cornelsen will be able to scheme against an aggressive defense but I would not be surprised if the Hokies’ offense gave up a turnover or two. It will be important for the Hokies to not give the Hurricanes a short field and limit turnovers. Turnovers and special teams will be key in this match up.

The Hokies cannot have big lapses like they did against Clemson. They had a busted coverage which led to a 60 yard touchdown and a mishandled catch which led to a pick 6. That cost the Hokies 14 points in game decided by 14 points.

A key stat favoring the Hokies is that they rank 3rd nationally in third down conversions allowed. Miami ranks 118th in converting 3rd downs. That could be an issue for Miami but they do excel at finding big plays on offense. The Hokies need to focus on limiting Miami’s big play ability and force them to convert 3rd downs to move the ball down the field.

Bud Foster’s goal needs to be to make Miami one dimensional by stopping their running game. UNC was able to limit Miami to 1.8 YPC last week. If the Hokies can force Malik Rosier to throw the ball, that works in Virginia Tech’s favor and should limit Miami’s big play ability.

Miami is better than they have shown the last two weeks. It’s strange to see an undefeated team as a home underdog (probably has more to do with Vegas folks being high on VT recently but I digress). Virginia Tech’s average game performance is better than Miami’s average game performance. That doesn’t mean that Miami can’t put together a special performance on a big stage. We’ve seen that from them before. But all things being equal, I like the Hokies’ defense limiting Miami’s offense and Tech’s offense’s ability to find big plays. Special teams will be key in this game. Field position battles will matter in a close game. Expect a low scoring affair. This game will be classic Virginia Tech-Miami. Lots of big hits. Lots of emotion on both sides. It’ll be a fun one on ABC prime time. We will need Joey Slye to come up big in this game.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 27, Miami 24

 

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Miami Preview and Prediction

Who knows with either of these two teams? It’s been a long time since anyone could figure out what was going on with either of these two programs besides the fact that both have been treading water. A win on Saturday would be big towards staying in the Coastal race for both teams. The winner of this game becomes a legitimate contender in the Coastal division.

The Hokies are catching the Canes at a good time. Recent history tells us that the Canes lose a little bit of their edge after losing to FSU. It’s been like that for about the last five years. We’ll see if a beat up Miami team still has the focus and energy to show up on Saturday.

A couple of keys for the Hokies will be stopping Miami’s advanced passing game. Brad Kaaya is a very good passer having thrown for almost 1,500 yards with eight touchdowns and only one interception. VT’s young secondary will have to be up to the task of covering Miami’s group of talented and experienced wide receivers. They have the type of speed that should pose a major challenge to the Hokies inexperienced secondary.

Last year, the Canes steamrolled the Hokies on the ground. The just lined up and ran it down our throats. That’s less likely to happen this year since the Canes are starting a very young offensive line along with two running backs who while talented, are not Duke Johnson. This is a game where the Hokies can’t afford to get bad play from their linebackers. They need to be able to stop the run and make Miami have to beat the Hokies through the air.

This is not your father’s Miami defense. This is a game where the Hokies offense should be able to move the ball both on the ground and through the air. Regardless of who is playing quarterback for the Hokies, they need to look to establish the run to set up the pass. In each of their victories this season, the Hokies have been able to run the ball effectively to help out their passing attack. Let’s hope we see more carries for Travon McMillian this week. The Hokies simply need to pick a running back and stick with him like they did in the NC State game.

On paper, this game looks very even. Most Virginia Tech-Miami games are. One team is going to take a big step forward this week toward remaining in the Coastal race. The team that loses this game runs the risk of letting the division race slip away from them. I’m hoping the Hokies gained confidence from that win against NC State but I’m still worried that the speed of Miami’s wide receivers combined with inconsistent play from the VT linebackers will lead to a long day down in South Florida. Just like last week, prove me wrong, Hokies.

Prediction: Miami 34, Virginia Tech 20

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Miami Preview and Prediction

The Hokies are 4-3 overall, 1-2 in the Coastal. They are staring 4-4 and the battle for bowl eligibility square in the face. They have more injuries than you’d care to count. Their freshman mike linebacker will be making his starting debut on Thursday night. They are missing their top 2 running backs. The offensive line can’t stop committing pre-snap penalties. They have four freshmen starting on offense. The quarterback has thrown as many interceptions as he has touchdowns. But you know what? It’s Thursday night. It’s Blacksburg. The Hokies backs are against the wall. This is when this team does their best work.

If Bud Foster can’t scheme around having to start freshman Andrew Motuapuaka at mike linebacker, then Duke Johnson has the potential to have a huge day. The Hokies defense has to bottle him up like they did James Conner much of last Thursday night but they need to avoid all the missed tackles. They need better play out of Kyshoen Jarrett who had a rough night against Pittsburgh. The Hokies will need his help stopping Duke Johnson in the run game and Phillip Dorsett in pass game.

Brad Kaaya is off to a good start in his career at Miami. However, he has not been particular impressive on the road except for a good performance at Nebraska (where he also threw two picks). This is a game where if the Hokies defense can bottle up Duke Johnson then they put a true freshman quarterback against a Bud Foster defense. That’s a match-up that Bud Foster wins almost every time.

Overall, the Miami defense has been better than in recent year. They rank 22nd in total defense. Their achilles heel appears to be stopping the run. There is a little more hope for the Hokies this week with Marshawn Williams coming back from injury and Wyatt Teller and David Wang starting on the offensive line. The running game was much better in the second half of last week’s game with those two in the lineup. Not to say that the Hokies will be able to run the ball effectively this week, but the chances are certainly better than they were last week.

Another key to this game will be the Hokies ability to convert on third down. Miami’s third down defense is only ranked 79th in the country where they are only stopping opposing teams 39.7% of the time. The running game needs to try to keep the Hokies out of third and long. But if they do get behind the chains, Michael Brewer needs to make good decisions and accurate throws to get first downs against this Miami defense. This is something he has been able to do fairly well throughout the course of the season.

This game will ultimately be decided by penalties and turnovers. Both of these teams have issues with both. The team who can take care of the ball and not beat themselves is going to win this game. Here’s hoping the Hokies can put the issues that they had with penalties last week behind them.

Like I said at the beginning of this article, it’s Thursday night. It’s Blacksburg. It’s the Miami Hurricanes. If you can’t get excited about this one, you might want to take a second look at your fandom. This is the type of game where the Hokies always play their best. The players always get fired up for Enter Sandman, the fireworks and playing under the lights on national TV (and possibly #AllMaroonEverything?). We know this team can be really good but we also know this team can be pretty bad and the injuries are starting to mount. Let’s hope it’s a vintage Thursday night performance in Blacksburg and the Hokies can get themselves back in the Coastal race.

Prediction: Virginia Tech 27, Miami 13

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